Matt Harpring delivered a go-ahead jump shot with one minute left to help the Utah Jazz complete a fine comeback and defeat the Boston Celtics 90-85 on Thursday. The 15-footer gave Utah a narrow 87-85 lead and Deron Williams followed up with two of his 18 points for Jazz after Celtics lost Kevin Garnett in the second quarter due to a strained right knee. Boston's All Star forward left the court before half-time trying not to put much weight on his right leg, and did not return to proceedings after the break.
Although the injury is not expected to be serious, the Celtics did not want to take any chance on the knock. "I'm not taking a risk by putting him out there on the floor. It's a long season," the Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. Mehmet Okur scored a team-high 19 points for Utah and Harpring had four of his eight points in the final quarter while playing tough defense on Pierce down the stretch. In the NBA's only other action, the San Antonio Spurs scored an 83-79 road win over the Detroit Pistons behind 19 points from Tony Parker and 18 from Tim Duncan.
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